A caravan of Central American migrants attempted to force its way into the United States on Nov. 25 at the San Ysidro border crossing from Tijuana, Mexico.
TIJUANA, Mexico—A caravan of Central American migrants attempted to force its way into the United States on Nov. 25 at the San Ysidro border crossing from Tijuana, Mexico. Some 2,000 migrants participated, a Mexican federal police officer said, while 39 migrants were arrested for causing fights and disturbing public peace, according to a Mexican police spokesperson. No injuries were reported. Several U. S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents were hit by projectiles, the agency stated on Twitter.
Over 6,000 migrants gathered in Tijuana, most of them from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. They planned to march toward the San Ysidro border crossing and seek entry into the United States at noon on Nov. 25.
U. S. authorities prepared by shutting down the crossing for better part of Nov. 25 and deploying hundreds of additional CBP officers. On the Mexican side, some 1,000 federal police officers, most appearing in riot gear, were deployed to prevent the migrants from crossing illegally.
Migrants have attempted to slip through the Mexican police lines and find gaps in the border fencing. At least on one occasion, they successfully broke through the fence, though the group that sneaked in appeared to have been forced back out by law enforcement who used tear gas. On another occasion, the migrants climbed over and damaged another part of the fencing. It wasn’t clear how many were able to get through.
Tijuana Mayor Juan Manuel Gastélum has declared a humanitarian emergency in the city, expecting thousands of more migrants to arrive soon. He has repeatedly expressed frustration with the migrants’ behavior.
“I will not allow our bilateral relationship to be fractured by the bad actions of the migrant caravan,” Gastélum said in a Nov. 25 tweet . “They’re doing things outside of the law. We are affected at the border crossing. Many Tijuanans work, study, and visit the United States in healthy peace.”
Several hundred locals protested the caravan’s presence on Nov. 18 while reports of crimes committed by the migrants started to pile up.
